NR #1996-029: Northern Illinois, Chicago South Allow Women in Office
Classis Illiana in the southeastern suburbs of Chicago has a longstanding
reputation as one of the most conservative classes in the Christian Reformed
denomination. Following Synod 1995's decision to allow classes to approve the
ordination of women by declaring the word "male" in Article 3a of the church
order to be inoperative, Classis Illiana not only took the technically
unnecessary step of declaring "male" to still be operative but also voted to
reserve the right to discipline any churches electing women elders.
Disciplining churches with women elders definitely won't happen in the other
two Chicagoland classes of the Christian Reformed denomination. At their
March 6 and January 17 meetings, Classis Northern Illinois and Classis
Chicago South both voted to declare the word "male" to be inoperative.
NR #1996-029: For Immediate Release
Northern Illinois, Chicago South Allow Women in Office
by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer
United Reformed News Service
(April 3, 1996) URNS - Classis Illiana in the southeastern suburbs of Chicago
has a longstanding reputation as one of the most conservative classes in the
Christian Reformed denomination. Following Synod 1995's decision to allow
classes to approve the ordination of women by declaring the word "male" in
Article 3a of the church order to be inoperative, Classis Illiana not only
took the technically unnecessary step of declaring "male" to still be
operative but also voted to reserve the right to discipline any churches
electing women elders.
Disciplining churches with women elders definitely won't happen in the other
two Chicagoland classes of the Christian Reformed denomination. At their
March 6 and January 17 meetings, Classis Northern Illinois and Classis
Chicago South both voted to declare the word "male" to be inoperative.
According to Rev. Lambert Sikkema, president of the winter meeting of
Classis Northern Illinois, the classical debate was brief and fairly calm.
"The issue of women in office has never been a major issue in this classis
and I think that was reflected in the tone of this discussion and its length
and the subsequent reaction to it, that we've got more pressing things to
do," said Sikkema. "We spend most of our time talking about how to help our
Vietnamese and Korean and inner-city churches and our new church starts.
That's really the issue in Northern Illinois, managing the difficult problems
of new and emerging churches."
Sikkema said women in office only came up because of issues in two
inner-city Chicago churches. "There are a couple of churches in classis that
have a pressing need for women officebearers where the numbers of single
parent heads of household are the majority and not the exception," said
Sikkema. "This is not a pressing issue in the suburban churches."
While inner-city churches are also a concern in Classis Chicago South, the
issue there was prompted by two suburban churches supporting women elders.
The voting process ended up being more complicated than the final vote,
however. When a first ballot indicated that a number of delegates had
abstained, the classis officers asked all delegates to cast ballots to
produce a better representation of the classis sentiments. A second ballot
resulted in a different problem - the stated clerk received more ballots than
the total number of voting delegates to classis.
Not wanting to be linked with the "vote early, vote often" proverb which
made Chicago famous for its electoral irregularities, the classis officers
called for an executive session in which only the voting delegates would be
present. When the third ballot was counted, women in office had passed.
"I think what happened is that the chairman simply said after the first
vote, we should have everyone voting," said classical stated clerk Rev. Henry
Vanden Heuvel. "He meant every delegate, and he thinks some of the people
visiting perhaps thought, 'He wants us to vote.'"
Cross-References to Related Articles:
#1996-027: Total of Christian Reformed Classes Allowing Women's Ordination
Reaches Thirteen
[See related article list at crossreference]
Contact List:
Rev. Timothy Douma, Pastor, Loop Christian Ministries
161 W. Harrison St., Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60605 * O: (312) 427-7962 * H:
(708) 848-9913 * FAX: (312) 360-0057
Rev. Bill Lenters, Pastor, Hope Christian Reformed Church
6609 Courtney Dr., Oak Forest, IL 60452 * O: (708) 687-2095 * H: (708)
687-2530 * FAX: (708) 687-9917
Rev. Jack Reiffer, Pastor, Hessel Park Christian Reformed Church
910 S. Lynn St., Champaign, IL 61820 * O: (217) 356-3177 * H: (217)
459-6328
Rev. John Schuurman, Pastor, Wheaton Christian Reformed Church
711 E. Harrison, Wheaton, IL 60187
O: (708) 668-6054 * H: (708) 668-7918 * FAX: (708) 668-3810 * E-Mail:
jschuu@ix.netcom.com
Rev. Lambert Sikkema, Pastor, Western Springs Christian Reformed Church
c/o 5140 Wolf Rd., Western Springs, IL 60558-1816 * O: (708) 246-4638 * H:
(708) 246-2718 * FAX: (708) 246-4642
Rev. Henry Vanden Heuvel, Stated Clerk, Classis Chicago South
9401 S. 54th Ave., Oak Lawn, IL 60453 * H/O: (708) 422-1428
Rev. James Wolff, Pastor, Lawndale Christian Reformed Church
4330 W. Cullerton, Chicago, IL 60623 * O: (312) 521-0309 * H: (312)
521-9013 * FAX: (312) 542-0664
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